Stories Retold

In our previous post we discussed stories that could be attached to the Chronicles of Narnia. The easiest part is to identify stories to be added, in fact, Lewis himself identified several such stories and there are certainly sufficient characters and events that could be fleshed out into full length stories. The more difficult part would be writing the story in a way that would reflect Lewis. While any given individual will have their own style and approach, there are certain key elements that characterize the Chronicles that should also undergird the addition. 

If such is true when conceiving a story of the Chronicles, how much more so should it be when retelling a story. Now, of course, a retelling does not have to be a retelling. It could, for example, be satire or parody like Puffs and Spaceballs. But then everyone knows what the point is. Where harm might be done is when a retelling is advertised as a retelling but its key elements are diluted, changed, or undermined. 

What are the key elements in a piece of literature? Well, that is also going to be subject to debate. One may argue that everything is a key element. In a previous post I (not too seriously) suggested that the color of Lucy's hair could be important in demonstrating her dedication to Aslan. She is described as golden-haired similar to Aslan's golden mane. On the opposite end of the spectrum, one might argue that only the overall plot is key. Hence, as long as the Magician's Nephew, for example, has a Magician with a nephew, some other worlds, and so on that's good enough. After all, look at I Robot where names are the same, but the storyline is not related at all. 

I would argue more along the lines of the first possibility. A proper retelling should convey the ethics, themes, lessons, and morals of the original. Preferably, the setting and storyline should be the same too, and, to really do a good job, as much as possible should be kept. So, how can we assess the retelling of The Magician's Nephew. 

1) Obviously, the most controversial issue so far is the casting of a woman as the voice of Aslan. This is clearly a slap in the face to Christianity and should be abhorred by all. I should also say that any comment that the way Aslan looks is inspired by a flesh and blood human being is, to me as a Jew, blasphemous. I do not think this is quite as much of an attack on Christianity since for Christians God became a man. So maybe someone's looks can be inspired by Jesus' looks. However, we do not have a portrait or photograph of Jesus so there is the very real question as to whose looks should inspire the Jesus-like figure in Narnia. There are, of course, great people who might serve that purpose, none of whom were chosen. 

2) The time period. I'm not too upset about this because God tells His story to all people in every generation. However, it does set up some questions of historical relevance.

We'll continue this next time...